I've been using Hello Cycling, a convenient service that lets you rent bicycles anytime, anywhere, but I recently got caught up in a bizarre situation, so I've decided to summarize it here.
Yesterday, I used Hello Cycling to ride home from the station, but it seems I forgot to complete the return process. This evening, I suddenly received an email from Hello Cycling asking, "You've had this bike for 24 hours now—is everything okay?" While I couldn't help but think, "Tell me after 4 or 8 hours, not this late! They're really taking advantage of the situation," I know there's no denying it was my mistake.
So, I went back to the station where I returned my bike yesterday to try and complete the return procedure.
Then, disaster strikes. My rental bike is gone!!!!! It's been stolen!!! I left it exactly where I parked it yesterday, but now it's nowhere to be found. Naturally, this means I can't complete the return process. I'm in despair. I'm swamped with writing my thesis and every second counts—I really don't have time for this.
To make matters worse, it seems Hello Cycling charges 220 yen per 15 minutes for any time exceeding one day (what a rip-off; that's just dirty). I want to resolve this as soon as possible, but the support center closed at 18:00 (if they're going to charge that much, they should at least have 24-hour support). To top it all off, I might even be held liable for the cost of the bike in the worst-case scenario.
And so, I decided to search for my bike. If I couldn't find it here, it was over. With the support center unreachable, I was gripped by the fear of not knowing what would happen next.
On the other hand, Hello Cycling bikes are quite conspicuous. Given their pricing structure and other factors, it is unlikely that the culprit abandoned the bike at their home. Therefore, I decided to search relentlessly around locations where someone might abandon a Hello Cycling bike, such as other return stations, restaurants, supermarkets, and convenience stores.
That said, it's the kind of place where they could be anywhere, so they're effectively infinite—yet we can't exactly avoid looking for them.
I finally found it an hour later!!!! The bike I borrowed was abandoned at a supermarket about 800m away from the station where I was supposed to return it.
Upon discovery, raindrops were on the seat, and the saddle height had been lowered. Additionally, there is no return station at that supermarket.
Therefore, it is likely that a woman took advantage of the unlocked door and intentionally used it to go to the supermarket.
I am seething with rage.
At that point, I considered calling the police to have them lift fingerprints from the handlebars and conduct a thorough investigation to find the culprit, but I remembered it costs 220 yen per 15 minutes and decided against it. The perpetrator essentially got off scot-free. I am not happy about this.
So, I returned the found bike to the station, paid about 6,500 yen, and headed home. Even though it was my own fault, it was a bitter way to end the day. Still, I suppose I can look on the bright side: the bike was miraculously found, and I avoided the worst-case scenario of having to pay for it.
And so, I return to writing my paper. I can't seem to stay consistent.